Weekend Accomplishment, teaching, philospohy
bill tindall
>I attended the national woodturners meeting in Louisville to help with the youth classes Friday and Sat. (the actual meeting was a bit pricey and mostly artsy stuff which I did not attend)
I worked with Binnie Klein and Nick Cook. I learned a lot about teaching turning that could translate to other woodworking. For one class (honestly titled beginning turning) Bonnie had the class practice on a piece of wood turning common turned elements-coves, beads and the like. Then the students made a spinning top (or top to be spun), one of her signature products. The class went well. The other two classes were making a pen and a honey dipper. It was assumed the students in these classes could turn and things went less well.
What I learned about teaching: Don't try to learn by making a product (honey dipper/pen). Learn the techniques on scrap where there is no price to be paid for failure. Trying to learn on something where you can screw it up is stressful to the student. They are afraid to risk screwing up their product so they don't properly explore the techniques to be learned. The class that had the least experience (begining turning) left with the most skills because they honed their skills on the practice wood.
I think this experience translates to teaching mortise chopping, dovetails, finishing, etc. One should learn the technique on scrap and then use the skill to make a product. However, it seems most classes are geared to making a product and learning the skills while making it.